account of a visit to his residence by a deputation from his native
town, to present to him a silver candelabrum, subscribed for by a
large number of the inhabitants of the borough, of all parties. The
base of the candelabrum is a tripod, on which stands a group of three
female figures; representing Law, Justice, and Poetry, the two former
modeled from Flaxman's sculpture on Lord Mansfield's monument in
Westminster Abbey, the latter from a drawing of the Greek Antique,
bearing a scroll inscribed with the word "Ion" in Greek characters.
The arms of Mr. Talfourd and of the borough of Reading are engraved on
the base. The testimonial was presented to the Justice in the presence
of his family, including the venerable Mrs. Talfourd, his mother,
and a large circle of private friends. In answer to the gentleman who
presented the testimonial, Mr. Talfourd replied:

"If I felt that the circumstances of this hour, and the eloquent
kindness which has enriched it, appealed for a response only to
personal qualities, I should be too conscious of the poverty of such
materials for an answer to attempt one; but the associations they
suggest expand into wider circles than self impels, and while they
teach me that this occasion is not for the indulgence of vanity,
but for the cultivation of humble thankfulness, they impart a nobler
significance to your splendid gift and to your delightful praise. They
remind me that my intellectual being has, from its first development,
been nurtured by the partiality of those whom, living and dead, you
virtually represent to-day; they concentrate the wide-spread instances
of that peculiar felicity in my lot whereby I have been privileged to
find aid, comfort, inspiration, and allowance in that local community
amidst which my life began; and they invite me, from that position
which once bounded my furthest horizon of personal hope, to live along
the line of past existence; to recognize the same influence everywhere